After watching the video from the BBC, I can now add robotic snakes to my list of terrifying things. That’s right–a one-of-a-kind robotic snake is currently being developed by a team of engineers in Bristol.

The snake-arm robot has been in the works for the past 10 years. Its flexible body allows it to wriggle into crevices and areas that were previously impenetrable. The BBC took a trip to the labs and actually tested out the snake-arm. The host is seen controlling the robot with what looks to be a video game controller. The snake is able to move through a maze of pipes, and is designed to go where people aren’t able to.

Dr. Rob Buckingham, the managing director of OC Robotics, the company behind the snake-arm, said that the snake can be used in places where there are hazards like radiation mean prevent people from accessing. We’re talking things like plutonium that we aren’t allowed to touch, but that the snake arm would be able to grab and dispose of.

The snake got started by private investors who “just believed in it.” The video shows the snake “slithering” around to its target, which, in this case, is a stuffed giraffe. The snake is able to avoid obstacles in the jungle of pipes and grab the stuffed giraffe. In more practical use, the snake could get sample of something flakey or powdery or a liquid, or in this case, “something giraffe like.” The snake has a camera at its head which allows the researchers to navigate the robot.

Not only is the snake-arm robot a great solution for retrieving objects from impossible-to-reach places, but it also has the potential to greatly impact the nuclear cleanup industry. But will the industry end up buying into the expensive robot? It’ll be a few more years before the snakes are put into action in the field, but we’ll know soon enough.